CNN sues Trump over White House ban of its correspondent

A long-simmering battle between President Donald Trump and CNN escalated Tuesday with the cable news network suing Trump and his top aides over the revocation of press credentials of its correspondent Jim Acosta.

The unusual step taken by CNN seeks the immediate return of Acosta's pass, which was revoked after a tussle between the correspondent and a White House aide. The aide tried to take a microphone away from Acosta as he persisted in asking questions of Trump at a press conference last week. Trump has called the AT&T Inc. unit "fake news" and frequently disparaged Acosta.

"This is just more grandstanding from CNN," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said. She added that Acosta had "physically refused to surrender the White House microphone" and that "this was not the first time this reporter has inappropriately refused to yield to other reporters."